Exam 14: Contractual Capacity

Lydia makes a contract to purchase a used car on her seventeenth birthday.Six months later,her ratification of the contract can be effectively implied by her continuing payments.

All states agree that a minor who has fraudulently misrepresented her age when entering into a contract has no power to disaffirm the contract.

At common law,a minor was a person who was under twenty-one years of age.

Which of the following would be a valid ratification? Two weeks after his eighteenth birthday,Jerry:

Seventeen-year-old Teresa wants to disaffirm her student loan agreements.Most states will not allow her to avoid such contracts.

Cheryl is a 17-year-old high school student who was elected homecoming queen and does part-time modeling to earn money for college.She has an important interview with a modeling agency and wants to make a good impression,so she withdraws $5,000 from her savings and buys a designer outfit and a fur coat for the interview.A week later,she returns the coat to the department store and says she would like her money back.The store is reluctant to take the items.What are Cheryl's rights? Explain your answer,citing relevant law.

Ratification need not be express;it may be implied from the minor's conduct.

When a minor falsely advises the other party that he is of the age of majority and based upon that misrepresentation,the other party in good faith enters into a contract with the minor:

Sixteen-year-old Laura's disaffirmance of a contract:

If a person is unable to understand the nature and effect of entering into a contract,he or she can avoid it.

In which of the following situations would a minor be unable to disaffirm a contract which he had made?

Randy,a minor,buys a new four-wheel drive truck from the Jones Dealership.Randy sells this truck to his cousin,Steve,who is an adult.Steve conveys this vehicle to Arthur.Arthur does not personally know Steve or Randy.Randy may:

Sally goes away to college at 17,lives on her own,and pays her own rent and electric bills.If she makes a contract to buy a television set,in most jurisdictions,she may assert her minority status and set aside the contract.

Compare the contractual liability of an intoxicated person to that of a person who is mentally ill.How are their situations similar? How are they different with regard to capacity?

In a contract to sell necessaries to a minor,these goods and services are limited to medical care,food,and shelter.

In general,minors have liability for their torts.

What are the ways in which a minor may ratify a contract? What are the ways in which a minor may disaffirm a contract? What is the effect of a minor misrepresenting age in order to enter into a contract?

Which of the following is least likely to be classified as a necessary for which a minor will be held liable on a contract?

What is the doctrine of liability for a tort connected with a contract?

A mental condition that impairs a person's ability to act in a reasonable manner is one type of mental incompetence.